Harvest Bistro owner Tracy Lemmonds finds Bargersville a perfect fit

Dec. 4, 2012

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Tracy Lemmonds finds advantages of operating a restaurant in a small town. / Doug McSchooler / For The Star

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A small-town boy at heart, Tracy Lemmonds left his big-city job as chef of 14 West and in September, he opened his own restaurant in Bargersville.

Harvest Bistro, 226 S. Ind. 135, mixes fine dining and comfort food. The building was once the home of Italian restaurant La Trattoria. Lemmonds lives in an apartment upstairs with Rowdy, a 6-year-old Boston terrier, and Lola, a 2-year-old Shih Tzu.

Lemmonds, 38, is originally from Greenville, S.C. We asked him about food, Bargersville and his small-town roots.

Question: Why did you choose to open a restaurant in Bargersville?

Answer: Living in the city, you couldn't drive 15 miles in any other direction and be out of city and suburbia. As far as growth goes, this is the only place left. It was kind of a no-brainer.

Q: What's the biggest difference between customers at 14 West and customers at Harvest Bistro?

A: Working in the city, you never saw the same people. Parking is limited. Roads are blocked. Traffic is jammed whenever there are football and basketball games.

Here, we have been blessed with a lot of regulars, people who used to drive to the city and we have cut their drive in half. They still get good service, quality food and a nice dining experience.

Q: Where do you like to eat when you dine out?

A: My mother's Vietnamese, and she had an Asian restaurant. I still love to go get Chinese food on my day off and eat and sleep all day.